# Why are puns considered the lowest form of humor? Why do folks groan, even at good puns? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516 "2020-08-19T19:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/22 "2020-08-20T02:03:09Z")
Knock knock ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/23 "2020-08-20T02:20:36Z")
So I don’t have an answer, nor can I take credit, but from what ailment does uncured ham suffer? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/24 "2020-08-20T05:21:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Possibly relevant is that puns are untranslatable. Asterix comics, available in dozens of languaes, made extensive use of “visual” puns that were often language-independent. The verbal puns often had to be totally re-written, not always entirely successfully, in each language. Sometimes, an entire page of dialog had to be re-written just to avoid some puns that they couldn’t translate. Asterix and Cleopatra in particular includes a lot of visual puns in mock-hieroglyphics. (The entire book is on-line somewhere but I can’t find a good link right now, or I’d cite some examples.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/25 "2020-08-20T12:23:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t know that it’s the _lowest_ form, but it’s in the bottom 50%. > > Most puns are actually not clever or interesting, just a contrived set of circumstances that lead to an equally contrived resolution. It doesn’t take much to come up with those. If a story is compelling and it is not obvious that it is heading for a pun, and the pun ending surprises me, I won’t groan. > > I do have an admiration for someone who can improvise reasonably clever puns on the spot, but most people who make puns do not make reasonably clever ones. This is true of any form of humor. There are good jokes and bad jokes. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/26 "2020-08-20T12:59:25Z")
All the good jokes get told and retold for years and years, but I can’t think of a single pun I’ve heard more than once. They just don’t have a shelf life. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/27 "2020-08-20T14:58:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Most puns are actually not clever or interesting, just a contrived set of circumstances that lead to an equally contrived resolution. It doesn’t take much to come up with those. Yeah. If a stream of puns starts on, say, the topic of electricity, you can be sure that someone is going to write, “Hey, don’t get _short_ with me.” Or, if they’re on fire: “Wire you getting short with me?” While (as **Reality\_Chuck** says) there are good jokes and bad jokes, bad punners roll out witless jokes with depressing, unwarranted, glee. Maybe because the pun feels like their own creation. When a thread transforms into a pun fest, I start looking for something else to read. However, at SDMB, in the midst of the crap a few talented individuals will devise masterful plays on words. Overall: better than _knock knock_ jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/28 "2020-08-20T15:44:19Z")
[Aliens are studying humans, and using humor as the tool.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokester) All humor is artificially implanted into us. Actualy spontaneoius humor is suppressed by the aliens, lest it confuse the study. And the spontaneous humor is question? puns. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/29 "2020-08-20T16:02:07Z")
Puns that require a set up, listener patience during buildup, and then rely on a strained linguistic trick–those are crap and serve as a beacon warning, “I am comedically impaired!” Conversational puns, on the other hand, let you gauge pretty quickly what sort of people your dealing with and how quickly and efficiently their minds work. That’s good stuff. There is a similar thing the missus and I will do, in just about any setting. That is to hear unintended words or phrases when someone else is talking, and the more inappropriate and out of context the better. “You’re in big trouble…” for instance, would get one of us to mutter “urine”. In office meetings we sit across from each other just so we can play the game with each other (eye contact=“you get that one?”) while some bigwig drones on about some deadly boring topic. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/30 "2020-08-20T16:08:38Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > he finally understood humor as “Something bad that happens to someone else”. I believe it was Mel Brooks who said “Tragedy is when I stub my toe. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die.” ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/31 "2020-08-20T16:08:46Z")
I love pun humour and use it all the time myself. If you get groans, that’s usually because there’s a lack of a sense of humour in your audience and you know to back off. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/32 "2020-08-20T16:14:42Z")
I’m supposed to _back off?!_ Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/33 "2020-08-20T16:16:15Z")
Well, hopefully you don’t pull a Bing Crosby and back right off the stage. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/34 "2020-08-20T16:17:44Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > Well, hopefully you don’t pull a Bing Crosby and back right off the stage. 😉 - I asked one of the stagehands to help me out and he asked which way I came in. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/35 "2020-08-20T17:06:04Z")
[Here’s humor at its lowest form](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+far+side+humor+at+its+lowest+form&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc7YTWoarrAhWFuVkKHVE-AKYQ_AUoAXoECBAQAw&biw=1525&bih=856#imgrc=pg2RCtR_eS-bVM). Accept no substitutes. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/36 "2020-08-20T17:14:36Z")
Hopefully it said “entrance”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/37 "2020-08-20T18:39:54Z")
So, if you get groans, you are hilarious and everybody else in the room lacks a sense of humor. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/38 "2020-08-20T18:41:50Z")
Straight from the loudest groaner. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/39 "2020-08-20T20:10:46Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Puns that require a set up, listener patience during buildup, and then rely on a strained linguistic trick–those are crap and serve as a beacon warning, “I am comedically impaired!” You just described about 10% of [Pearls Before Swine](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F529595237423845050%2F&psig=AOvVaw2Lrbar1jzruY57nX-CvC9d&ust=1598040394217000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOj3i8XKqusCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD) strips. The odd thing is that a good chunk of the other 90% displays a decent amount of comedic talent. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/40 "2020-08-20T20:11:25Z")
You get groans from puns because we’re expected to groan. I actually smile, and laugh at a particularly good one. And lots of puns get laughs from the audience when a comic uses them. In fact, I think that people _say_ they groan at a pun, when IRL they actually laugh at a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516/41 "2020-08-20T20:17:05Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Asterix comics, available in dozens of languaes, made extensive use of “visual” puns that were often language-independent. The verbal puns often had to be totally re-written, not always entirely successfully, in each language. Sometimes, an entire page of dialog had to be re-written just to avoid some puns that they couldn’t translate. Most of the names were untranslatable. I guess Asterix and Obelix translate well enough at least into English, but what do you with Abraracourcix (based on the French phrase for “cocked arm”) or the Belgium Druid Septantetsix? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-puns-considered-the-lowest-form-of-humor-why-do-folks-groan-even-at-good-puns/918516.md?page=3)